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Topic: Have You "Made the Switch" to BluRay? (Read 4170 times)

I wasn't sure if this could go in the DVD thread or not, but I was curious how many people here have made the switch over to blu rays over regular DVD purchases. We're in the process of saving up and finally getting an HDTV, as well as a blu ray player, sometime before the year is up. We've sort of been going back and forth wondering if the blu-ray player was "worth it" - but since we're really avid movie watchers, we thought it might be something worth picking up. My wife was especially on board after she watched Twilight at a friend's house in hi-def. Anyways, I was just wondering how many of you here have switched to blu ray, or if you're just standing pat with DVDs for now. Thank goodness you can still play DVDs on the blu ray players, or it would make the decision much tougher with these shelves of movies we already have (like many others).

No. I don't even have a tv with Hi Def capability yet. And I work in broadcasting!

Right now I think almost all of the hardware is overpriced. Especially given the economic climate. I'd love a 50" flatscreen, but the prices are crazy. The same goes for the BluRay players. They're still at least $200. But get this. You can get a standard DVD player that can upconvert your DVD's for hi-def capable monitors, and the unit will cost you less than $50.

Still, a BluRay player is going to give you the highest quality image that you're going to see outside of a gaming console like the PS-3 or X-Box 360. Most broadcast HD signals max out at 720 p. But BluRay and the game consoles will put out 1080p.

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I got a Playstation 3 at launch and have been enjoying movies on Blu-ray in high-def since the following March, when I dropped way too much money on an HD-TV. Blu-ray v/s upscaled DVD is night and day. I can't even watch DVDs anymore unless it's animated like The Simpsons. Live action just looks soft. And the difference between Blu-ray and broadcast HD is even greater, due to compression artifacts. They're not as bad on FiOS, but awful on DirecTV.

I think you'll be thrilled with your purchase if you're a movie buff. My best advice to you is to also invest in a decent home theater system. Movies are significantly more immersive with crystal clear Dolby or DTS. I have a 7.1 receiver but only have 5 speakers + subwoofer hooked up due to the shape of the room. Unfortunately I got mine before HDMI, so I had to be creative with the wiring. But it still does a fantastic job. I have Netflix, so I'm loving a new Blu-ray every few days. Just fantastic.

My family made the switch last September. We went from a 10-inch TV and a VCR in our bonus room to a 50 inch Plasma and BluRay player. The only thing we opted not to get was surround sound. The Best Buy clerk tried to sell my parents on that, but I convinced them that it was unnecessary as after this year my brother and I will both be out of the house, and my folks barely know how to work electronics. (Not just the TV/BR, but anything)

The upconvert for DVDs on our Samsung unit is very good. I've only re-purchased a handful of movies that were my favorites. (300, King Kong, Cloverfield) I've still purchased DVDs, despite having the Bluray player. I decided when my family upgraded to get comedies, horror, and dramas on normal DVD. Plus the 4 for $20 deals at Blockbuster are really hard to beat.

Anyway, if you're planning to get a good hi-def TV and have the cash to spend on the movies, then go for the Bluray player. If not, I'd say settle for the upconverter for now. You wouldn't be missing out on too much and will probably save money in the long run.

Still waiting for the PS3 to drop in price before I go BR. Even then - I'm not sure how deep I'll get into rebuying/buying new BR discs. I have about 1700+ DVDs and granted I wouldn't want to rebuy all of them in the new format, I'm just not sure I'll go crazy with the newer discs especially with the higher prices. I'll have a new HD set before year's end so perhaps that will be the kick in the pants I need to upgrade.

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we just bought a 42" HDTV. Cable HD channels come in at 1080i, and the DVD player looks good. I do want a the samsung blue ray though that also connects to the home network for streaming Netflix, but it will wait until the retail price comes down or I find as good of a bargain as I found on the TV.

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On a 26" TV you won't see much difference. And as for prices, $30 is an exaggeration. Check out Amazon's Bestsellers in Blu-ray. Lots to be had under $20, and the only $30 regular movies I see are Taken (includes 2 discs) and Transformers 2.

I have not. I'm not sold on BluRay yet. People I know who have it don't like the fact that there are no chapter stops like DVD and some in store demo's I've seem make excellent looking movies look horrible. But that was probably the TV it was playing on, not the BluRay.

There are chapter stops on Blu-ray. I haven't noticed a single one that didn't have them.

It's strange where these rumors come from. Another I've heard is "You can't fast forward through the previews." Complete BS. Of the few I've seen with movie trailers, I haven't had one where I couldn't skip them.

some in store demo's I've seem make excellent looking movies look horrible. But that was probably the TV it was playing on, not the BluRay.

I've noticed that too....some scenes on demo discs of Pirates of the Carribean, everything is flat and too crisp. Doesn't look cinematic...looks like an A&E made for cable movie.

It's got to be that they punch up sharpness on the TV and the demo disc both.

No, it's probably the 120 MHz refresh rate. It's something that the manufacturers have been pushing. Probably in an effort to make broadcast signals look "more Hi-Def". And it probably looks great for sports. But it also winds up making movies which are shot at 24 fps look strange, as if they were shot on video. And the cinematic quality of the image suffers.

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Nice to see all of the replies (and info). Like many others, we already have a ton of DVDs (although not in the ballpark of 1700 - wowza), so we won't be replacing all of those either. I've sort of been waiting for the "Star Wars on blu ray" announcement to make the switch as well, so we'll see (with LOTR coming later this year, and a possible extended version next year - that would make another one I'd like to "re buy"). Honestly, the new TV is much more important to us - but our DVD player is crapping out right now too, so we thought about looking at blu rays as well. We have $200 in gift cards to a local furniture place (Nebraska Furniture Mart, for anyone in the area), and thought we could use that for a blu ray player. We could put it towards a TV too, but they seem to be higher priced there than everywhere else (Target, WM, Best Buy, etc.)

As far as movies from now on, I don't know if we'd buy only blu rays either. I don't know if I'd care so much on certain comedies, etc. - but I'd spend the extra money for things like Star Wars, LOTR, Indy - or other sci-fi/superhero type stuff.

On a 26" TV you won't see much difference. And as for prices, $30 is an exaggeration. Check out Amazon's Bestsellers in Blu-ray. Lots to be had under $20, and the only $30 regular movies I see are Taken (includes 2 discs) and Transformers 2.

Well, I don't believe $30 to be an exaggeration. I was at Target, and I noticed The Dark Knight and Serenity at $30. I didn't check Amazon, but that's probably because I don't hunt for BluRays.

Another reason I don't want to make the switch is I don't want to buy another TV. The one I have costs me lots of money I didn't have back in 2003.